Recommendations___________________________________ p. 8 1. Executive Summary This research reports on the New Zealand organic beverage industry and investigates the current market situation and the purchasers’ beliefs, attitudes and preferences that are driving its growth.

experiencing a 47% increase since 1991 and more specifically the ambient organic juice market grew at 3. 8% from June 2006 to June 2007 (Lepionka, 2007).

The main brands in the New Zealand organic beverage industry are Phoenix Organics in the juice sub-category – this brand has been growing at 28% since 2002 (Stock Exchange Announcement, 2005); Bell Tea’s Twinings Organic tea bags are the most dominant product in the organic tea industry (Winters, 2001), furthermore The Real Wine Co.

is one of the most dominant brands in the wine sector as it offers a range of 70 wines from New Zealand and around the globe (OrganicDirect, 2007).

New Zealand Organic Specialty stores sell 40% of organic food and beverages and out of the supermarkets New World and Pak’n Save have the largest market share of organic products sold with 18% of this market share and an annual turnover of $5. 7 million of organic products (Coriolis Research, 2001). Qualitative Research The Qualitative research uncovered the reasons why people buy organic beverages, these factors include; they like the taste, they want to help sustain the natural environment, they look for the healthy option, they want to appear as “elite” and they enjoy the novelty of purchasing and drinking organic beverages.

The most favoured sub-categories were the chilled organic juices and “sparkling” drinks; these categories were also perceived to have the highest demand. A reasonable price for a 275ml bottle of this kind of beverage would be around $3.

00 – $3. 50 in a cafe and around $2. 80 at a supermarket. The perceived demographics of organic beverage purchasers were; young (15 – 40 years old) professional people who live in urban towns with the majority being female. The main perceived draw-backs with organic beverages was that the price often discourages purchase and many people are already brand loyal to conventional beverages